Gemini Staff Family Summit Tours

December 17, 2007

On December 8th the first-ever Gemini Staff Family Tour was held at
Gemini South. This was followed on December 15th with a Staff Family
tour at Gemini North. Over 75 staff and family participated (or led) the
tours which gave family members of Gemini’s staff an opportunity to see
the Gemini North and South telescope facilities first-hand and see where
family members work.

At Gemini North, Tony Matulonis (System Support Associate) put the
telescope and enclosure through its motions for the group. Tony’s mom
(Anna Trope) wrote that this was, “…An absolutely wonderful tour that
was an inspiring learning experience!” Gemini’s Human Resources
Recruiter Mahshid Albrecht said that it was an experience she will never
forget, and that she “…felt like a little kid!” Finally, Dorothy
Fukushima made the comment (several times) that everyone else was
feeling from the snowy heights of Mauna Kea, “I am sooooo cold!”

“This is the first time we have done this for staff and families,” said
Gemini Director Doug Simons, “and we plan to make this a regular annual
event at Gemini.”

Figure 1: Gemini South staff family tour participants on December 8th.

Figure 2: Gemini North staff family tour participants on December 15th attempting
to recreate the photo taken at Gemini South a week earlier!

Figure 3: Gemini North staff family tour participants get ready to enter the
facility on the snowy heights of Mauna Kea.

Figure 4: Gemini South staff family tour participants assemble outside of Gemini
South where the Chilean summer made for a much warmer experience then at
Gemini North.

The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration with two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope is located on Maunakea, Hawai'i (Gemini North) and the other telescope on Cerro Pachón in central Chile (Gemini South); together the twin telescopes provide full coverage over both hemispheres of the sky. The telescopes incorporate technologies that allow large, relatively thin mirrors, under active control, to collect and focus both visible and infrared radiation from space.

The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in five partner countries with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each country's contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources. The national research agencies that form the Gemini partnership include: the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Canadian National Research Council (NRC), the Argentinean Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva, the Brazilian Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação and the Chilean Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT). The observatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. The NSF also serves as the executive agency for the international partnership.